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Nov 30, 2015

MeshPoint is a great project developed by some of my friends which should help people endangered in emergency situations and emergency services staff to get rugged and reliable internet access point.

It is developed extensively with help of 3d printers (Ultimaker 2) and I will post a more detailed article soon. This technology is currently being used to provide internet access to refugees in Croatia. There will be several versions of rugged enclosure with batteries, 4G access and mash WiFi.

We present “RevoMaker”, a self-contained 3D printer that creates direct out-of-the-printer functional prototypes, using less build material and with substantially less reliance on support structures.

By modifying a standard low-cost FDM printer with a revolving cuboidal platform and printing partitioned geometries around cuboidal facets, we achieve a multidirectional additive prototyping process to reduce the print and support material use. Our optimization framework considers various orientations and sizes for the cuboidal base.

The mechanical, electronic, and sensory components are preassembled on the flattened laser-cut facets and enclosed inside the cuboid when closed. We demonstrate RevoMaker directly printing a variety of customized and fully-functional product prototypes, such as computer mice and toys, thus illustrating the new affordances of 3D printing for functional product design.

Nov 19, 2015

It uses sand and cement mixture and a liquid soil hardener called polypavement as binding agent. Powder bed is loaded manually :-) but a mechanism could be developed in the futre.
Printed objects are rough but the concept is interesting for artistic purposes and concrete furniture where you can get more complex organic forms.

Full construction guide with plans and operational instructions can be found at:

Nov 18, 2015

Aurora Flight Sciences, a Virginia-based manufacturer specializing in advanced UAV systems, is pushing the envelope of UAV design by teaming up with Stratasys to create the world’s first jet-powered, 3D printed aircraft.

Using 80% 3D printed parts, the UAV is composed of Stratasys’ ULTEM™ 9085 lightweight material to achieve flight speeds of over 150 Mph. The high-speed system boasts an impressive 9 ft wingspan and weighs in at only 33 lbs.

Nov 10, 2015

Here are two projects that demonstrate how you can make very large models of cities or terrain by connecting smaller pieces in larger frame.

3D Printed Model of San Francisco

Video description:

Behind the scenes 3D printed model of San Francisco:
Connex 500 printed 3d model of a portion of San Francisco. The model was created to aid real-estate developer Tishman Speyer in telling the story of urban development in the rapidly changing SOMA neighborhood. It can help with urban planning and building construction decisions that are better understood with the kind of physicality that only a real-world 3D replica offers compared to digital images or digital models.

Nov 9, 2015

Disney Research released their software demonstration which shows how it is possible to automatically design 3d printable robots that can move with different cinematic and motion systems.

You basically just input what you want a robot to do and algorithms calculate the 3d printable design. I see dark future for human engineers job security.

Now it is used for small robotic creatures, but I can see it being used to developed large military mechas or smaller mission customizable war bots.

From project description:

We present an interactive design system that allows casual users to quickly create 3D-printable robotic creatures. Our approach automates the tedious parts of the design process while providing sample room for customization of morphology, proportions, gait and motion style.

The technical core of our framework is an efficient optimization-based solution that generates stable motions for legged robots of arbitrary designs. An intuitive set of editing tools allows the user to interactively explore the space of feasible designs and to study the relationship between morphological features and the resulting motions. Fabrication blueprints are generated automatically such that the robot designs can be manufactured using 3D-printing and off-the-shelf servo motors.

We demonstrate the effectiveness of our solution by designing six robotic creatures with a variety of morphological features: two, four or five legs, point or area feet, actuated spines and different proportions. We validate the feasibility of the designs generated with our system through physics simulations and physically-fabricated prototypes.